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12:41 AM

Assam registers 2,427 new COVID-19 cases, 3 fresh fatalities

Assam's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,03,794 on Saturday as 2,427 more people tested positive for the infection, while three more fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 289, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

 

Kamrup Metropolitan district, under which Guwahati falls, has reported the highest number of new infections at 459, followed by Dibrugarh (177), Cachar (158) and Jorhat (136), Sarma said.

12:07 AM

Adityanath reviews work plan to combat COVID-19 in Varanasi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday reviewed the work plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Varanasi and directed officials to conduct nearly 4,500 tests daily in the holy city.

 

He said there should not be any shortage of beds in COVID hospitals and asked officials to strengthen L2 and L3 health facilities in the city, according to an official statement.

12:07 AM

Telecom minister launches BSNL Airfibre service in Bihar

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday launched a high-speed wireless broadband service, BSNL Bharat Airfibre, for rural areas of Bihar through video conferencing from the national capital.

 

Besides this, the minister inaugurated a next-generation network telephone exchange at New Bihar Vidhan Mandal compound, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement.

11:13 PM

1,442 new coronavirus cases in MP, 22 deaths, 1,017 recover

Madhya Pradesh on Saturday saw its highest single-day spike of 1,442 coronavirus cases, taking the total count in the state to 60,875, health officials said.

 

The coronavirus death toll rose to 1,345 after 22 patients succumbed to the viral infection since Friday evening, they said.

 

Five patients each died in Indore and Bhopal, three in Gwalior, two in Jabalpur and one each in Ujjain, Sagar, Dewas, Datia, Damoh, Chhatarpur and Ashok Nagar, officials said.

10:40 PM

Ramp-up efforts to contain COVID-19 spread, follow SOPs: Centre to UTs

The Centre on Saturday advised union territories to ramp-up efforts to contain the COVID-19 spread by sticking to the rules for prevention of the disease as well as following standard operating procedures (SOPs) in its treatment, a government statement said.

 

The directions were issued on Saturday during a review meeting, where Home Affairs and Health secretaries Ajay Bhalla and Rajesh Bhushan took stock of the measures undertaken by the union territories to contain the coronavirus spread, it said.

10:08 PM

Delhi Metro to re-start services from Sept 7 in a graded manner

Delhi Metro will resume services from September 7, after the union home ministry announced new guidelines called Unlock 4 easing restrictions to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

 

The standard operating procedure for services to start will come from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

 

“Delhi Metro will be resuming its services from public from September 7, 2020 in a calibrated manner. The SOPs and other details will be issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,” DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said in a statement.

 

It is learnt that the services may be confined to the national capital only and Metro trains may not go to NCR cities. READ MORE

10:08 PM

NEP will bring back old glory of India, says Education Minister

Laying the foundation stone for three permanent buildings during the 12th Foundation Day ceremony of the Central University of Odisha, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Saturday hailed the new National Education Policy (NEP), saying it will bring back the "old glory" of the country.

 

Recalling the time when people from other countries came to India for studies, Pokhriyal said, "Now it's time to achieve that type of education through the new education policy."

 

Urging the varsity community to focus more on research and development, Pokhriyal congratulated the Central University of Odisha for rising to the occasion and becoming one of the prominent universities of the country within a few years.

9:51 PM

Himachal Pradesh CM reviews progress on Atal Tunnel in Rohtang

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday reviewed the progress on the 9-km Atal Tunnel, being constructed at Rs 3,500 crore in Lahaul Spiti's Rohtang to shorten the distance between Manali and Leh.

 

The CM said once completed the Tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to Leh and forward areas of Ladakh, which remain cut-off for nearly six months from the rest of the country due to heavy snowfall, according to an official spokesperson. This is extremely significant from the defence point of view, he added.

 

Chief Minister said the project will be completed by spending Rs 3,500 crore.

 

Cutting through the Pir Panjal range, the tunnel has reduced the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km, he said.

9:42 PM

Anil Baijal dismisses Delhi Guv proposal to postpone NEET-JEE

9:30 PM

Reliance Retail to buy Future group's retail business for Rs 24,713 cr

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, on Saturday announced it is acquiring the retail, wholesale business and logistics businesses of Future Group for consideration of Rs 24,713 crore.

 

Future Enterprises will sell, by way of a slump sale, the retail and wholesale business which includes Big Bazaar, FBB, Foodhall, Easyday, Nilgiris, Central and Brand Factory to Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Limited (RRFLL), a wholly owned subsidiary of RRVL. It will also sell the logistics warehouse business to RRVL via a slump sale. RRFLL and RRVL will take over certain borrowings and current liabilities and discharge the balance consideration by cash. Read more

9:19 PM

Safdarjung Hospital to restore OPD services to normal timings from Sept 1

The Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi will restore its OPD services to normal timings from Tuesday, according to an official circular issued by the medical superintendent of the hospital.

 

All elective surgeries will also be restored with effect from September 1, it stated.

 

"It has been decided to restore the OPD services of the hospital to normal timings (8:30 am to 11:30 am from Monday to Friday and 8.30 am to 11 am on Saturday) with effect from September 1," said the circular issued to all heads of departments and others officials.

 

The OPD was being run for limited duration, while elective surgeries were suspended in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

9:10 PM

Madras HC to resume physical hearing of cases

The Madras High Court on Saturday decided to resume physical hearing of cases from September 7 "in order to meet the growing demand" for physical court hearing.

 

The court will also continue with the virtual hearing and will have staggered physical hearings to avoid overcrowding in the courts, a notification from the Madras High Court Registrar General said.

 

"In order to meet the growing demand of physical court hearing and also keeping view the precautions that are required to be observed for avoiding any untoward happening, Hon'ble Administrative Commitee on serious consideration has decided to open physical court hearing partially," it said.

9:03 PM

Electronics export can touch $180 bn by 2025, says industry

India's electronics exports can grow more than 16-folds to USD 180 billion by 2025 from $11 billion currently if industry suggestions are implemented by the government, an industry association said on Saturday.

 

The Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) has submitted a roadmap to the government to achieve the target in which it has recommended to expand focus of existing electronics manufacturing schemes and incentives beyond mobile production along with some policy intervention.

 

"At ESC, we have created a roadmap fortaking India's electronics exports, which include mobile and accessories, components and other electronics and hardware items, to $180 billion by 2025 to bring exports from the segment more or less at par with software exports," ESC chairman Sandeep Narula said in a statement.

8:52 PM

Uttarakhand CM chairs meet over Mahakumbh Mela 2021

8:42 PM

Prashant Bhushan case: SC set to pronounce quantum of sentence on Aug 31

The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on August 31 its verdict on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, convicted for contempt of court over his two tweets against the judiciary.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra will pronounce its verdict against Bhushan, who faces simple imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both as punishment under Contempt of Court Act.